Chapter 6
Too Little, Too Late
I walked into the kitchen, if felt like something weird was going on. My family... yes, my family, was sat around the table, serving up dinner, and there was a spare plate for me. A frown spread across my forehead, as I gave them a skeptical look. The last time we all ate a meal together at the kitchen table, was when my grandmother died.
I cautiously sat down at the table, wondering what was up. There had to be something going on, because it was like stepping into a alternate reality.
"Here, Cody, I got you a present," Mum said, as she handed me something wrapped in brown paper.
I unwrapped the paper, to find a new pair of studded bracelets. I looked up at Mum completely surprised, she hadn't gotten me anything that I actually liked in years.
"What is this for?" I asked, holding the bracelets like they was a ticking time bomb.
"We wasn't much of a family in Napa, so I think we should start acting like one now," Mum said, as she started piling some potatoes on my plate. "New house, new start."
"The bracelets was my idea, because you broke one on my face this morning," Tori added, in a uniquely Tori way. He said something almost nice, and grassed me up at the same time.
The meal was barely tolerable, because it was all so false. At one point Dad actually got up to fetch his own beer, which I just had to make a sarcastic dig about. To be honest, I just wish they'd just drop the act, and be themselves. As soon as the meal was over, I put on my new bracelets on, and dumped my old ones in my room. I took a walk around the neighbourhood, which was probably a stupid idea, considering that I nearly got murdered last night.
I didn't even get lectured, when I went home at nearly midnight, but it just didn't feel right. I walked upstairs to my room, then sat down on a chair in front of my bedroom window. It made me wonder what kind of dumbass was trying to screw with me, and I hoped that this would all be a dream or some kind of weird fantasy. Yeah, that's it, when I stepped out of the diner, and something hit me on the head, it knocked me out, and I'm going to wake up in hospital any minute.
But, I didn't wake up in hospital the next morning, I woke up in the same chair. I got changed, I wasn't much of a mood to actually pick out something, so I just wore black combat pants, and my long sleeve black top, all with my regular slip on sneakers.
I didn't even bother eating anything for breakfast, I figured I'd get something on the way to school. There was actually a bakery a couple of streets away from the house, so I got myself a bagel, with cream cheese. As I walked out of the shop, taking a bit out of the bagel, I noticed that the building across the street, was the one I had climbed up with Nayte the other night.
I was tempted to walk down the alleyway at the back, but I didn't. The dumbasses was probably still there, and try to kill me again. Or there could be some kind of freak animal down there, to maul me or something. I'd rather frickin' eat breakfast, than be breakfast, thank you very much dumbass.
I carried on my walk to school, when I got to school car park, I remembered that I hadn't done my homework. Ah well, they can't expect me to do it, considering that this would be my third day at this frickin' school.
"Morning Cody!" Katie said, as I walked into chemistry class.
"Do you have to be so peppy in the morning?" I snapped, as I dumped my bag on the workbench.
"Just because you're not a morning person, no need to bring us all down!" Katie replied, with even more pep than before.
It was just my frickin' luck, that she had to be in all my classes. I rested my arms on the desk, then rested my head on my arms.
"It's prom in a month, and I still don't have a dress," Katie said, with a slight glum edge, but she still sounded peppy to me.
"Who cares!" I said, dripping with a tone of complete boredom.
"Well, you should care, and I totally need to buy a dress, but they all like totally suck at the clothes store here," Katie continued.
She continued to talk on and on about the stupid dress, that she was just dying to buy, for twenty minutes. For the first time, I was actually glad when chem class actually started, just so she would shut up. But, she didn't, as soon as we started working on our class projects, she started talking again.
"Hey, Cody, come to Seattle with me, and we could shop for combat pants, and punk stuff, if you want to..." she suggested.
I couldn't be bothered to refuse any more, because every time I hoped she'd shut up, she didn't, she just carried on talking.
"You know what, Katie, why not. I got absolutely frickin' nothing to do," I replied, hoping she would shut up about it.
No such luck, she just talked more about all the best stores that we could go to, and where the best cafes where, that we could eat at. I actually wished that those freak dumbasses had killed me in that alley, so I didn't have to put up with this boring crap.